Ethan Hawke Reveals The Crucial Lesson Robin Williams Taught Him Years Ago Devon ForwardOctober 31, 2025 at 2:42 AM 0 Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI, Ethan Miller/Getty Images Actor Ethan Hawke, who is currently promoting two new movies, The Black Phone 2 and Blue Moon, recentl...
- - Ethan Hawke Reveals The Crucial Lesson Robin Williams Taught Him Years Ago
Devon ForwardOctober 31, 2025 at 2:42 AM
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Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI, Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Actor Ethan Hawke, who is currently promoting two new movies, The Black Phone 2 and Blue Moon, recently took a trip down memory lane to explore his many iconic past roles, leading to a meaningful anecdote about none other than the late Robin Williams.
The two starred together in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, which was one of Hawke's first few roles of his career. Looking back in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Hawke remembered how he learned a crucial lesson about acting while he watched Williams work, declaring, "Robin Williams didn't do the script. And I didn't know you could do that."
"If he had an idea, he just did it," Hawke went on, sharing how Williams shifted his perspective and revealed new possibilities for the young actor. "He didn't ask permission. And that was a new door that was opened to my brain, that you could play like that."
While some directors might resist this more improvised, explorative style of acting, Peter Weir, who helmed the coming-of-age classic, welcomed Williams' style, "as long as we still achieved the same goals that the script had."
"They had a very different way of working, but they didn't judge one another or resist one another. They worked with each other. That's exciting," he continued, talking about how the working relationship between Williams and Weir exemplified "great collaboration."
The Training Day star thoughtfully recalled, "I'm watching him direct Robin Williams—not an easy thing to do, because Robin was a comic genius, but dramatic acting was still new to Robin at that time."
"Watching that relationship in the room—I was four feet away while they were talking about performance—that was something you don't unsee," he proclaimed of the experience.
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Before working on Dead Poets Society, Williams was mainly known for his comedic work in the 1970s sitcom Mork & Mindy,guest appearances on other comedy programs, and stand-up. His first foray into drama was a couple of years earlier in 1987's Good Morning, Vietnam, which is a war dramedy film.
After Dead Poets Society, Williams' star grew, and he went on to have many more tremendous performances in both drama projects, like Good Will Hunting and Patch Adams, and comedies, such as Mrs. Doubtfire and The Birdcage.
As for Hawke, he clearly learned from Williams' example, with many impactful roles in the decades since, including Before Sunrise, Boyhood, and First Reformed, to name a few.
Related: Pierce Brosnan, 71, Reveals 'Colorful' First Meeting With Late Robin Williams on Set of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 31, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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